Plot

The narrator, Astrid Magnussen (Alison Lohman), is the 15-year-old daughter of a free-spirited artist, Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). Her father having left before she was old enough to remember him, Astrid depends heavily upon the maternal care of her passionate but largely self-centered mother. Ingrid's current relationship, with a vulgar man named Barry (Billy Connolly), comes to an end when he is discovered to be a womanizer, and her emotional response leads her to murder him using poison (white oleander). Ingrid is arrested and sentenced to life in prison, leaving Astrid without parents and in need of foster care.

Astrid is sent to live with foster mother Starr Thomas (Robin Wright Penn), a former stripper and born-again Christian who is a recovering addict. Though they initially interact well, Starr begins to suspect that Astrid is having an affair with her live-in boyfriend. Eventually, after a loud argument with her boyfriend, Starr enters Astrid's room in a blind and jealous rage and shoots her. After spending some time in a violent group...Read More